Apple has successfully angered its service staff. It is forcing its certified consultants to join a new oversight organization, OnForce, which has strict new rules. Those who don't comply won't get referrals at the Genius Bar. (Source: Cracked)

Upset about lack of control, Apple is making significant alterations to how its services its computers

Apple
computers, just like any personal computer, can break. Likewise OS X and
its software, like any operating system and its software, can experience bugs,
crashes, and other issues. When that happens users have two choices – perform
repairs/diagnostics on their own (often exploring online resources) or take it
to a qualified repairperson.

In the Apple world, the first line of repair support has been the Genius Bar
that is located at every Apple store. But sometimes problems are too
confusing or severe for the Genius Bar specialists, so they get referred to a
network of certified technicians. Previously this network operated
largely independently, but Apple is reportedly making sweeping changes to
drastically cut the independence of these technicians and increase oversight.

The change applies to the Apple Consulting Network (ACN) technicians. ACN
members must go through certification courses and testing. They must also
pay annual fees to keep their status. Local ACN members give their
business cards to the Genius Bar who then passes those cards along to customers
having tough issues.

But Apple -- a company obsessed with control, quality, and oversight -- took
notice of the tech's autonomy and it "rubbed Apple Retail the wrong
way."

According to a report by TUAW writer
Steven Sande, Apple began to quietly prepare a replacement system in 2009 in LA
and Boston. Writes Mr. Sande, "Apple began testing a new support
structure that used an existing organization, OnForce, to distribute support
calls to ACN members who wanted to sign up as part of the program."

In 2010 the system was rolled out to Denver/Boulder and Detroit. Now
Apple is extending it to its entire retail network. If ACN members do not
comply with Apple's edict and join OnForce, they will no longer get service
referrals from Apple retail.

The good news for customers is that they can expect lower prices and perhaps
more service accountability.

But there's plenty of bad news about the change, with much of it on the
consultants' end. OnForce implements very strict policies.
Consultants can no longer represent themselves or their businesses when
on call (making it impossible to get long-term customers). They also are
upset about the amount of paperwork OnForce requires. And OnForce's rates
are much lower than what Apple consultants typically charge.

Also of concern to both customers and techs alike are claims that OnForce is
recruiting uncertified technicians with little to no iOS or Mac OS X
experience.

The ACN members and some Apple fans don't mince words about their frustrations
at the company. Writes "Jimmy01" on the Apple Insider forums:

Is it just me or Apple really starting to turn
into this disgusting company? Left and right, they are alienating everything
and everyone that made them into what they are today and they are doing this
because of the hordes of cash they now have without any consideration to the
consequences. What they don't realize is that no matter how big you become, if
people turn against you, you will fall. And this time around, no one will give
a damn.

The on-board program is a BAD BAD idea and will lose a boat load of really good
ACNs that will go rogue on their own. The ACN will become no different from the
monkeys at Geek Squad or other crap like that.

"79 Apple //e", another user and self-reported ACN member offers a
longer, more thoughtful complaint, writing:

OnForce is getting a piece of the action from the consultant. Apple is probably
getting some kind of participation fee from OnForce. Ultimately, it's the Apple
Consultant who gets screwed. And I say Apple Consultant because the most
important thing you have to understand is that OnForce consultants don't have
to be Apple Certified. It could be a High School student who is looking to make
some money on the side. Of course they can underbid an experienced consultant!
Also, if you've ever done consulting, it can be very difficult to
"estimate" your time for a job. OnForce determines what "should"
be the time to complete a job. Well, with IT, it's never quite that easy. There
can be so many unforeseen circumstances that can complicate a job. Let's say
you're getting a job to do a quick and easy setup which includes installing
MSFT Office, getting on the Internet and setting up printer on a brand new iMac
you just purchased from the Apple Store. Sounds like a job that should take
about an hour or two? Generally yes. But any good consultant who is worth his
salt will also run Software Update. As of today, a brand new iMac sold at the
Apple Store needs about 1.5GB of downloads, including Flash(which is no longer
included). Well, if you have a fast 5mb/s internet connection, that should take
about 40 minutes. If you have a slower connection, it could take much more!

Outraged ACN members are discussing ceasing to pay their ACN dues and starting
their own independent certification and consultation program, which will
preserve the independent spirit of the ACN. We're guessing Apple won't
take kindly to that rebellion.

From a business standpoint, it is hard to argue against Apple. The
company has managed to double retail sales at its stores from $1.9B USD in fiscal
Q1 2010 to $3.8B USD in fiscal Q1
2011. Of the record 851,000 Mac computers sold last quarter,
approximately half of them were to customers who had never bought a Mac before.
Apple is aggressively
expanding its retail network and is preparing to open new stores
(according to reports) in Shanghai, Palo Alto, and New York's Grand
Central Terminal.

But for all that success, one has to wonder what will become of Apple if it
alienates the very employees and customers that built that success in the first
place.

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One of my friends is an ACN technician over in Huntington Beach. While he charges more than OnForce does, he makes house calls between 5-9pm for customers that can't come to him during his regular business hours and otherwise offers an amazing level of service to both residential and business customers.

I haven't talked to him yet, but I can guarantee that he will either stop going above and beyond for his customers (since they will cease to be HIS customers and become OnForce customers), or he will go rogue and tell Apple where to shove it's fruity PCs.

How often does one's computer break to know a good tech from a bad tech? It's not as each to compare IT techs to car mechanics unless you know what to look for in the first place; if you've got a problem that you need a tech, more than likely you don't know what to look for.

Apple are mostly, and this may come as surprise to some, concerned with their customers and making them happy and given Apple's track record of sales and profitability over the last decade they seem to be succeeding in making their customers very happy indeed.

Sheep don't really pay attention to much so its easy to make them happy.

A friend of mine at work, as much as I like the guy, is a good example of this. He has an 80GB iPod that he filled up. What would be the next logical step? Buy an MP3 player that offers the same or larger size, and can be expanded through replaceable memory cards. What does he do instead? Buys another iPod.

Not to defend his stupidity, but it is actually one of the more cost effective paths.

iPod Classic 160GB = $1.55/GB32GB Micro SDHC = $2.50/GB

HOWEVER, I manage just fine with an 8GB phone + 32GB micro SDHC card and the ability to remotely access data from my home PC from anywhere. Remote in, make a quick Google search (or browse the file system) and viola. I can even stream obnoxiously large media files (movies or playlists) over 3.5G or WiFi.

quote: Tony, PLEASE, how can you be so damn blind? Please, go read a whole load of damn forums, filled with people having problems and issues, really annoyed by the level of service at Apple.

I am sure some people have problems with Apple's service but if we rise above the level of anecdote and actually attempt a more objective overview of Apple's service profile using actual evidence what do we find? We find that no matter who conducts the research the results in survey after survey is always the same: Apple come at or near the top for customer satisfaction, both for their products and their services.

Now it's fine to not like Apple products and it's fine to not like Apple but when you start saying that the sky is green when a peek through the window shows that it is actually blue you leave me and rational thought behind. Seeking out fragmentary and meaningless anecdotes to reinforce one's view of the world, especially when the actual evidence so overwhelmingly threatens one's world view, is the most seductive and damaging self deception. It leads nowhere and undermines one's ability to understand the real world.

All I did is point out what the balance of evidence about Apple's track record on service and customer support was. The way Apple is changing its terms for service support sub-contractors may be crappy and may be an example of heartless rapacious corporate capitalism but to argue that Apple thinks this will reduce the quality of their service to customer is just plain silly. Everything about the system that Apple has developed over many years to deliver customer support indicates that as a company they take getting such things right very seriously. To deny that or to suggest that Apple is somehow cavalier about customer support is contradicted by all the evidence, it literally makes no sense.

Apple refuses to take part in a survey conducted by one carrier company (O2) in one country (UK) to produce a green ranking for handsets.

Another report from a Chinese environmental group saying Apple isn't as transparent as it could about the effect it's suppliers are having on the environment.

Another links to a film made by Chinese environmental NGO about the impact that Apple's suppliers are having on the environment.

None of these has the slightest evidence to support your claim that

[Apple] 'bottoms all surveys of supplier and environmental ethics.'

Not one of these links shows any sort of comparative evidence about Apple's (and it's suppliers) impact on the environment compared to any similar large manufacturer of electronic goods, computers or gadgets.

You claimed Apple came bottom of all surveys - please just show me some - even one.

You claim that Apple has a worse environmental record than other comparable companies - show me some evidence to support this claim.

quote: The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) published a report (Chinese-language PDF) on Thursday ranking Apple and 28 other companies when it comes to taking responsibility for supplier conduct, with Apple coming in dead last on the list

Why is it that Apple was the only company out of the 28 confronted by the coalition of 32 environmental organizations to evade the issue of heavy metal pollutants?

Why is it that Apple refused to take part in O2's green initiative?

Why does Apple refuse to publicly acknowledge Wintek as one of their screen suppliers?

Why has Steve Jobs not replied to workers of Chinese suppliers who were left with permanent nerve damage from the chemicals they used to manufacture screens for iPhones?

Did you even watch the video in the third link?

Obviously you're only reading what you want to read as opposed to the truth.

I repeat again that what is claimed is that 'Apple came bottom of all surveys on environmental ethics' in business - show me some evidence to back that up. Should be simple if it's true and your comment was prompted by evidence, rather than, say, prejudice and luddite fear :)

lolmuly had it right by saying that my post was waggish, and it was to an extent.

But there's no doubting from the evidence I have posted that Apple is an extremely environmentally unconscious and supplier unfriendly company, doing its utmost to avoid the consequences of its actions. Akin to how you continually avoid questions thrown at you, such as the ones in my previous post.

Apple is no longer a small company. They are one of the largest technology companies in the world. With that comes huge social responsibility, which Apple seems unwilling to be accountable for.

The links I have posted are factual. That said, prejudice against one company makes more sense than having prejudice towards every company except one.

Are you really surprised though? There are no ethics in business and no rewards for acting morally - on the contrary - the reverse is true. For many of these executives, the competition exists to be crushed and greed is the only creed there is, for which they get promoted and rewarded.

Actually (and I know this is anecdotal and is not a measure of Apple emoloyees in general), the one Apple employee I know hates thier products. He even bought an HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7. Big conversation piece when he goes in to meetings at work.

I used to work for Ericsson and was the first and only person to use a Nokia phone. Reason: my customer the carrier asked me to do it!. They said have some respect for your competitors, they are good in many areas we are not!.I was also the first to use the iPhone and that did not cause much anguish of others but far more envy. The iPhone cost the SonyEricsson's CEO his job (of USA division) due to serious erosion profits in the high-end handsets.I was really upset that SE took 2 years to get into Android. They did a WinMO as an interim and it failed drastically. Now the company is bouncing back. They probably lost 2.5 years of opportunity, countless jobs and millions.PS: I happen to support Nokia's move to WP7, actually predicted that over 1 year ago. I knew they would NEVER do Android (something about Europeans fearing the terminator or similar...). Talking to Google was just a politically correct way of ensuring they cover the bases {Corporate responsibility}.

If you overpay for something your mind will artificially inflate the value of it.

Tell someone that a $50 watch is worth only $2 and they'll believe you if the evidence supports you. Tell someone who just bought that $50 watch that it's only $2 and they'll deny in the face of all but the most overwhelming evidence.

Tell an Apple user that just paid hundreds more for an equal or lesser quality device and you'll get all sorts of emotional and subjective justification with few objective facts.

Apple has some great stuff and I think their quality is pretty good. I'm also aware of egregious quality lapses they have had on many occassions... and so are you . Your own cognitive dissonance has morphed into full blown confirmation bias when it comes to matters of Apple. In other words you're a fanboy.

I can give Apple props and I do. You on the other hand MUST give them props.

If you overpay for something your mind will artificially inflate the value of it.

Tell someone that a $50 watch is worth only $2 and they'll believe you if the evidence supports you. Tell someone who just bought that $50 watch that it's only $2 and they'll deny in the face of all but the most overwhelming evidence.

Tell an Apple user that just paid hundreds more for an equal or lesser quality device and you'll get all sorts of emotional and subjective justification with few objective facts.

Apple has some great stuff and I think their quality is pretty good. I'm also aware of egregious quality lapses they have had on many occassions... and so are you . Your own cognitive dissonance has morphed into full blown confirmation bias when it comes to matters of Apple. In other words you're a fanboy.

I can give Apple props and I do. You on the other hand MUST give them props

Jolly interesting, and I am sure a very reassuring, theory but sadly a load of bollocks.

Re Apple and quality. I never said Apple had never had quality issues or production problems or that their customers don't sometimes have problems with their products or that some customer find that their Apple products are lemons. I do say that all the evidence (very important word that) in the form of surveys conducted by reputable bodies shows overwhelmingly that Apple consistently comes near the top in terms of customer satisfaction both with their products and with Apple service and customer support.

Now it's possible to view such evidence in two ways:

a) Apple really does have above average performance in terms of customer support and service, and that Apple products really do please the consumer who buy them more than comparable products

or

b) All those surveys are rubbish and that all the responses from those customers on many separate occasions involved them telling lies about or misrepresenting their actual experience of Apple and it's products.

A corollary to believing (b) is that one also has to believe that one has some sort of special and objective insight that is somehow better than and more accurate than actual evidence - a sort of sixth sense about the true nature of Apple's products and customers.

Nobody has sheep quite like Apple. They know it's shiney and they know it's expensive. Ask them technical details or specifically why they like it and you'll get asthetic and subjective answers that are highly succeptible to cognitive dissonance.

The technically inclined can give more objective answers like "battery life" but then again the technically inclined aren't lining up to say that Apple is Gods gift to man.